LETTER XIII. 



From this view, my clear Sir, you will probably 

 conceive a higher opinion oi the utility and impor- 

 tance of the ass, than you have hitherto been accus- 

 tomed to form. You will readily perceive, that if he 

 be too often degraded into the most neglected of do- 

 mestic animals, it is not for any deficiency in useful 

 and valuable qualifications, but merely through the 

 caprice of those who are not able to appreciate his 

 worth. The ass was held in high estimation by the 

 Israelites ; and the forty sons of Abdon, judge, or 

 chief magistrate of Israel, riding on asses, is men- 

 tioned in the scripture as a mark of high distinction, 

 and a display of superior grandeur. These ancients 

 seem to have known this noble, although unjustly de- 

 graded, quadruped better than we do at the present 

 day. Their judgment was, in this respect, better, and 

 their taste certainly more refined, than that of those 

 barbarians among us, who beat, abuse, and treat him 

 with all manner of ill-usage, merely because he is an 

 ass, without considering how much we should esteem 

 his excellent and useful qualifications, and how glad 

 we should be of his services, if the Creator, in the ex- 

 uberance of his bounty, had not given us the horse. 

 I flatter myself, that these considerations will excite 

 in your mind a sentiment of compassion and benevo- 

 lence towards this inoffensive and useful animal. 



I shall also, here, say something of a quadruped 

 which, although pretty well known, is not very com- 

 mon in Great Britain, nor, indeed, of so great use 

 here, as in some other countries ; I mean the Mule, 

 an exceedingly hardy and useful animal, but which 

 is not a distinct species, being the offspring of the 

 horse and the ass. This quadruped is remarkably 

 healthy, and lives about thirty years. In Spain, per- 

 sons of the first quality are frequently drawn by 

 mules, which are held in such estimation, that fifty or 

 sixty pounds is a common price for one of the best. 

 This is not surprising, when their utility in moun- 

 tainous countries is well considered ; for they are, be- 

 yond comparison, more sure-footed than horses, and 

 a person may travel with them in perfect security in 



